Canada – EU

17 September

Prime Minister Carney delivers an address to the European Parliament

What we know about the proposed partnership between Canada and the EU
Carney speech contained key pieces of his vision for the partnership, but much remains uncertain
Carney wants Canada to join Europe’s Erasmus+ program.
PM signalled interest in Europe’s flagship exchange program in speech to EU
(CBC) … While many details of the suggested new partnership are left to be ironed out — like what it would mean to be the EU’s first “associate member” — Carney specifically pitched Canadian involvement in Erasmus+ [a popular European exchange program] when he delivered a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Thursday.
“Canadian membership of Erasmus+ would give your students and ours more opportunity to learn at some of the world’s top universities, to broaden their horizons and to build those lasting ties that will sustain our alliance for the future,” Carney said.
He also expressed interest in getting involved in the next iteration of Horizon, Europe’s research and innovation funding program in which Canada already participates. The current Horizon framework for 2021-2027 has over $140 billion in funding.
… First established in 1987 as Erasmus, the flagship EU program allows people to study and train at institutions across Europe for up to a year.
The initial program focused on university exchanges, but has since expanded to include exchanges for work experience, apprenticeships and sport.

16 September
EU’s von der Leyen wants Canada to become bloc’s first associate member
By Julia Payne and Ingrid Melander
Push for deeper ties as both face pressure from Trump and China
EU lawmakers applaud as von der Leyen and Carney embrace
Canada also calls for closer ties
Associate membership would be new and raises questions
(Reuters) – European Commission President Ursula ​von der Leyen said on Wednesday she wanted to open the door to Canada becoming the EU’s first “associate member” in a push to ‌forge new links among allies in “an openly hostile world”.
New partnerships were needed “in the cold fragility of today’s world,” von der Leyen told the assembly in Strasbourg, without detailing what associate ​membership would mean.
The 27-nation bloc faces war at its borders, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Both the EU and Canada have also been facing ​stiff rivalry on trade and other issues from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and from an increasingly assertive China.
“I said we must urgently reimagine our partnerships. So, I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be ​the first associate member of the EU,” von der Leyen said.

Thanks, Trump: Why Canada may become the European Union’s first ever ‘associate member’
Stewart Prest, Lecturer, Political Science, University of British Columbia
(The Conversation) It’s a proposal that manages to be both absurd and eminently logical, depending on how you frame it. Geographically, Canada remains firmly affixed to North America, sharing a border with its increasingly unpredictable neighbour to the south, the United States.
… There are many unanswered questions about Canada becoming an associate member of the EU, and some real risks associated with the idea as well. European Union membership is not without its drawbacks, as Brexit clearly demonstrated just a decade ago.
The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, and while that was an economically problematic decision, it was not without its logical arguments in favour. EU membership remains controversial because pooling sovereignty requires sacrifice: nations trade away unilateral control in exchange for shared, broader gains.
This is not a minor point. The loss of control over decision-making is, in no small measure, what Canada is objecting to in trade negotiations with the U.S. While it’s far too early to know what goes into associate membership, Carney will need to be careful to ensure steps are taken to prevent Canadian populists from finding a new distant target in Brussels.
Harmonizing policy with European allies would also likely become a further barrier to trade with the U.S. While it’s clear Canada can no longer rely on a trusting relationship with its southern neighbour, the two countries will remained joined at the hip, and the U.S. will likely remain Canada’s biggest trading partner as a function not only of geography, but decades of investment and policy. …

Is EU’s offer to Canada a blueprint for Britain – or a reminder it is out in the cold?
Lisa O’Carroll, Senior correspondent
(The Guardian) Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, has been advocating closer alignment with “middle powers” since January in the face of recklessness in Washington.
To a standing ovation at her State of the Union address, Ursula von der Leyen said she wanted to open the door to Canada becoming the EU’s first “associate member” in a push to forge new ⁠links among allies in “an openly hostile world”.
The European Commission president’s deal could be seen as an “earthquake” offer said Joël Reland, of UK in a Changing Europe, though it remains “deliciously vague”. …
The last time associate membership of the EU was mooted was in relation to Ukraine as an off-the-books novel way of bringing Kyiv closer to the bloc without become a fully fledged member state.

Canada and EU move toward closer ties,
EU to create an “associate” program for Canada
(GZERO media) The bloc is looking to deepen ties with the Great White North as both sides adjust to unprecedented hostility from their traditional main ally, the US. The Trump administration has threatened Canada’s sovereignty, pulled back support for NATO, demanded control of Greenland, and waged trade wars against both Ottawa and Brussels. Canada’s PM, Mark Carney, has taken a pugnacious “elbows up” approach to dealing with Trump, and called on the world’s “middle powers” to unite. Canadians overwhelmingly support closer ties with Europe, and both sides are looking for a long-term hedge against a suddenly unreliable US. But Brussels will need to tread carefully: offering too many benefits to Canada could dilute the meaning of real EU membership, rankle other European candidates waiting to formally join the bloc, or provoke Trump into even more antagonistic actions.
E.U. Talks of Making Canada First ‘Associate Member’ as U.S. Ties Weaken
Canada and the European Union have been confronting an increasingly challenging relationship with the United States under President Trump.